Talking - Chen Cang / 陈 仓

Chen Cang / 陈 仓





Talking

Two trees are talking.
Their language
Is the falling leaves when they are melancholy
And the little flowers when they are adoring

Two stones are talking.
Their language
Is the green moss when they are sorrowful
And the sun’s reflection when they are joyful

I want to talk to the trees,
But I don't know which words to use.
I want to talk to the stones,
But I don't know which sounds to use.

I really am so tired.
I want to talk to that girl
But I don’t know which heart to use.
I want to talk to the shadows
But I don’t know if I should use darkness or light.

I really am so tired.
When the plants and the animals talk
They understand silence,
But when I talk to you
It doesn’t matter if I use blood or tears
You only hear wind.

(Translated by Chloe O’Connor)




说 话

两棵树在说话
他们的语言
忧郁的时候是落叶
爱慕的时候是小花

两块石头在说话
他们的语言
消极的时候是青苔
积极的时候是反光

我想和那棵树说话
但我不知道用什么文字
我想与石头说话
但我不知道用什么声音

我真的好累
我想和那个姑娘说话
但我不知道用哪颗心脏
我想和影子说话
但是我不知道用黑色还是白色

我真的好累
植物与动物说话的时候
用无声也能听懂
但是我与你说话的时候
无论用血还是泪
听起来都是风



*



Dog- walking

I leashed a rural dog
She leashed a noble dog
We met at a crossroad
The two dogs recognized who is a man and who is a dog at a glance in the busy street
They ran screaming into the middle of the road
Hugging, cuddling, kissing and playing
If they had hands, they would shake them, and shake them again, just like a human
We don’t know each other
Even if we did, we wouldn't be as closed as dogs
She and I yelled to drive the two dogs away
Hoping they’re like us
Wagging our respective tails
Go our separate ways
We’re going to infect our dogs
with human indifference like a disease

(Translated by Xiao Jingwen)




遛 狗

我牵一只土狗
她牵一只洋狗
我们相遇在一条十字路口
两条狗在来来往往的街上
一眼就认出谁是人谁是狗
它们欢叫着跑到马路中央
搂着，抱着，亲着，闹着
如果有手，它们肯定会像人
握一下，再握一下
我们彼此都不认识
就算认识也不会和狗一样如此亲密
我与她吆喝着把两只狗各自赶开
希望它们和我们一样
各摇各的尾巴
各走各的路
我们要把人类的冷漠
像病一样传染给我们的狗




***



Chen Cang, a post-70s poet and novelist，was born in Danfeng County, Shaanxi Province, currently is living in Shanghai. He had cultivated land, grazed cattle, burned charcoal, panned for gold, stole steamed buns, ate tree bark and grass roots, studied animal husbandry and veterinary medicine for four years, and is now a media reporter.
He is the author of eight volumes of Entering the City series novel collections. He also wrote novels Guest of the Land and Painkillers, long essays The One-Year-Old Catch and Animal Sorrows, novel collections Shanghai Special Records, The Blessing of Benevolence, Goodbye Bai Suzhen, Once Upon a Time in a Temple, poetry collec¬tions Revelations, Ai’s Gate, Poems of Shanghai and other works, to¬tally 19 volumes. He has won the 8th Lu Xun Literary Award, the 2nd Fang Zhimin Literary Award, the 3rd Sanmao Prose Award, the Bien¬nial Award for “Selected Novels”, the 3rd China Star Poetry Award and the 3rd China Red Sorghum Poetry Award, etc.
All kinds of his works are known for directly pointing to people’s hearts and making people tearful. Jia Pingwa called him “a person who runs around with his hometown on his back”. He put forward “dedicated to our hometown that we can’t go back to”, which has become a sym¬bol of the era of great immigration.


陈仓，“七〇后”诗人、小说家。陕西省丹凤县人，目前定居于上海。种过地，放过牛，烧过炭，淘过金，偷过馒头，吃过树皮草根，学过四年畜牧兽医，身怀劁猪骟牛之技，现为某媒体记者。
著有八卷本“进城系列”小说集、长篇小说《后土寺》《止痛药》、长篇散文《预言家》《动物忧伤》、小说集《上海别录》《地下三尺》《再见白素贞》《从前有座庙》、诗集《醒神》《艾的门》《诗上海》等十九部。曾获第八届鲁迅文学奖、第二届方志敏文学奖、第三届三毛散文奖大奖、《小说选刊》双年奖、第三届中国星星诗歌奖、第三届中国红高粱诗歌奖、首届陕西青年文学奖、中国作家出版集团优秀作家贡献奖、中国小说学会年度好小说（排行榜）等。各类作品均以直指人心、催人泪下见长，被贾平凹称为“把 故乡在脊背上背着到处跑的人”，创作主题“献给我们回不去的故乡”已成为大移民时代的文化符号。